Alumni

The U.S. National Science Foundation has awarded a Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) Phase II award for $1 million to Kismet Technologies to further its research and development of a broad-spectrum residual antimicrobial technology that eradicates COVID-19 among other bacteria and viruses. The company, led by UCF materials science and engineering alumna Christina Drake ’07PhD,…

As an undergraduate student in Professor Raj Vaidyanathan’s Structures and Properties of Materials course, Othmane Benafan ‘08, ‘09MS, ‘12PhD became fascinated with the concept of metals with memory. The idea conjured up images of the shape-shifting T-1000 android assassin from Terminator. The intrigued mechanical engineering major had to learn more, so he joined Vaidyanathan’s research group. More…

Seven University of Central Florida graduate students are currently interning at Adobe and 3M, among other leading employers thanks to fellowships supported by the National Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering Fellowship (GEM) program. The GEM program began in 1976. The public-private partnership aims to connect students from underrepresented groups with the nation’s top employers…

Dr. Paz Y Puente had an illustrious academic record at UCF as an undergraduate and graduate student, highlighted by Order of Pegasus, Goldwater Scholarship, and Astronaut Scholarship. Since leaving UCF in 2012 with M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering (advisor Prof. Yongho Sohn), Ashley earned her Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Northwestern University…

Researcher Drake founded Kismet Technologies in 2019 with a mission of reducing pathogen spread via her patent-pending nanoRAD technology spray disinfectant, which she claims is non-toxic. The company claims its products safely kill viruses and bacteria on surfaces for a week or longer without reapplication as opposed to other disinfectants that only primarily work until…

SGAC announces the winners of the Space Generation Leadership Award (SGLA) 2021 One of the main missions of SGAC is to facilitate access to the world’s major space conferences for young professionals and students. The Space Generation Leadership Award enables five outstanding SGAC members to attend the 19th Space Generation Congress and the 72nd International Astronautical Congress in Dubai, United…

Nidhi (Mahajan) Bhardwaj ’05 M.S., MSE Nidhi (Mahajan) Bhardwaj is a senior project manager in the Portfolio Strategy and Integration Department of Bristol Myer Squibb in the New York City metropolitan area. After earning her master’s degree in Material Science and Engineering at UCF, she started her career at the biotechnology industry giant Amgen in…

One of the biggest challenges posed by the Pandemic to mankind is the loss of livelihoods, further widening of the gender inequalities, and major reliance on government networks for health-related awareness. Parisodhana Technologies, a company incorporated in India by two University of Central Florida Alumni, Dr. Satyanarayana VN T Kuchibhatla and Dr. Ajay Karakoti, responded…

During the IMAPS2020 event held last week, Dr. Kumar was chosen for the prestigious “Emerging Leaders” award this year by the IMAPS society. IMAPS is the leading international microelectronics and electronic packaging society representing more than 3,000 members around the world in the US, European, and Asian chapters. The Emerging Leaders Award recognizes significant contributions…

Distinguished Alumna Catherine Kammerer, Ph.D. ’13 M.S., MSE; ’15 Ph.D., MSE (Advisor: Prof. Sohn) Catherine “Cathy” Kammerer, Ph.D., is a Senior Engineering Manager at Aerojet Rocketdyne, West Palm Beach, Florida. She provides materials characterization, process development, manufacturing, and other design support functions of rocket engines by developing innovative materials and process solutions to meet the…

Materials science and engineering alumnus Stephen Nonnenmann has been awarded a National Science Foundation CAREER Award for his work in the area of defect chemistry. Nonnenmann works as an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Massachussetts-Amherst, and is now seeking exceptional, highly-motivated undergraduate or master’s-level students who are interested in working on…

Alumnus David Reid is the latest recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award. Reid is the president and CEO of Helicon Chemical Company. He founded the company during his last year of graduate studies at UCF to pursue his passion for technology commercialization. This year, Helicon Chemical was awarded its 10th government contract for advanced materials…

As manager of Siemens GT Risk Management Organization, Petya Georgieva Fernlund, ’06, leads a global team responsible for ensuring the quality of the gas turbine engineering products. In her position, she oversees strategy and the portfolio; coordinates on root cause analysis and quality issues resolution; works on risk analysis and management; and supports the professional…

Materials science and engineering alumnus Ankur Gupta, ’17,  has been recognized for his services as a student board member of the Thermal Spray Society, a division of the American Society for Metauls International. He learned the basics and gained hands-on experience in thermal spraying the plasma nano-manufacturing laboratory at UCF. He was nominated for the…